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Hanson Ottawa Concert Review

Hanson at The Bronson Centre

Say what you will about the Hanson brothers, but they know how to put on a show. Their concert at the Bronson center on February 8th was filled with frequent moments of fan interaction, and a comfort on stage cultivated from years of performing. Despite the cramped quarters of the venue, it actually felt cozy and helped the audience feel more like friends as opposed to strangers. The concert opened with young rising singer Carly Rae Jepsen who performed some of her popular hits like “Tug of War” and “Call Me Maybe”. The crowd knew little of her when she started, but by the end of her set, everyone was talking about her performance. Carly was the perfect choice for this tour since she was so full of energy, and clearly embodied the spirit of a Hanson show.

Standout Opening Act: Carly Rae Jepsen

After Carly’s set the lights dimmed, and the audience started screaming. Zac the youngest warmed up the drums at the beginning of their set like he’d been doing it his whole life (and he probably has), and the concert was underway. The band warmed up with their newest hit “Shout it Out”. While it took no time at all to get the fans excited, not everyone was as familiar with this song as they were with other tracks played. ” Thinkin’ ‘Bout Somethin’ ” proved to be more popular with the audience as they shouted the chorus back to the band on stage. As older fan favorites like “Deeper” and “Give a Little” were played I could feel everyone getting excited for the end of the show, when the band usually plays from their first album. At one point, Zac soulfully crooned “Oh Darling” by the Beatles and nearly sent every female into conniptions with his incredible 28.5 second “Oh”, perfectly on pitch. More impressive was that he didn’t break eye contact with the audience. Not once.

Zac & Isaac Hanson

Taylor Hanson

The biggest highlight of the show was when Taylor enlisted the help of everyone in the audience to jump up, and sing along to “MmmBop”. Every woman (as well as a few men) happily obliged as a sea of jumping hands bopped in rhythmic time to the timeless hit. This is what all of the fans were waiting for, to connect with Hanson over this one song. It was truly impressive to watch. Finally, it was time to say goodbye and the band threw the last of their energy into “If Only”, a big hit that rivals “MmmBop”  in popularity. As Hanson walked to the edge of the stage to take a bow, the screams were deafening. It’s possible no one actually heard Isaac when he grabbed the mic to say “Thank you Ottawa, We love you!”.

My final verdict? If you have children, take them to see Hanson live. If you don’t have children, see them live anyway. Hanson strives to put on a show that engages people from all walks of life and truly delivered on that mission.

For more on Carly, and her music visit her website: http://carlyraemusic.com/

To learn more about Hanson, and join their fan club, visit their site: http://www.hanson.net/site/sections/1

You can find more of Andrea’s interviews and reviews here

Photo Credit: Simon Stiles

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“Blood on the Moon” retells the story of James Patrick Whelan’s trial with skill

Review by Wayne Current

Last Thursday, I set off to see Sleeping Dog Theatre’s (in association with the National Arts Centre English Theatre) Blood on the Moon  at the Irving Greenberg Theatre Centre (GCTC).  Written by Pierre Brault, this show was selected as a last-minute replacement for You Fancy Yourself by Maja Ardal cancelled due to Ardal’s severe illness.  Blood on the Moon features Brault as the ghost of James Patrick Whelan, an Irish  immigrant who was found guilty of assassinating D’arcy McGee, retelling the story of his trial. Those who are familiar with Brault’s work will not be surprised that this is a one man show with Brault playing all the characters.  Brault has built his reputation with these kinds of performances and once again does an admirable job juggling all the roles.

Pierre Brault as Whelan, Photo by Lydia Pawelak

I am always pleased when local writers make an effort to tell Ottawa’s stories and Brault has done a nice job of telling Whelan’s story in Blood on the Moon. I particularly enjoyed the way he weaves in modern local references that Ottawa residents will relate to along with the historical facts of the trial.

Martin Conboy’s lighting design is also quite effective. The various scenes in the play from jail cell, to courthouse, and finally the gallows are all depicted through the use of clever lighting techniques.

Blood on the Moon is a local story skilfully told. It’s a show definitely worth seeing.

It’s important to remember that this show started 13 years ago as an Ottawa Fringe Festival show before touring Canada and Ireland extensively.                                                                      

This is not surprising, in fact, with so few opportunities to catch independent theatre on main stages, the theatre festivals have become the breeding grounds for the best of independent theatre in the country.

On that note, I’m very pleased that the GCTC is once again offering the Undercurrents festival in February. It’s a perfect opportunity to check out more independent Canadian theatre. Perhaps, some of the shows featured here will move on to main stages or, like Blood on the Moon, tour internationally.

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Hibernation Nation

With Hibernation Nation‘s fine, fine assortment of intimate and swaying songs, Simms-Karp may just as well have accomplished her mission: stealing our hearts.
~by Guillaume Moffet – October 20, 2011 (Hour Community)

Hibernation Nation by Andrea-Simms Karp is now available on iTunes.   

Connie Bernardi plays the roll of radio announcer on Majic 100 in Ottawa, full time music blogger and seeker of new music. 

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Fevers

So when you think Ottawa – musically speaking – you don’t necessarily think haven for emerging electronic music.  But there’s a band here in town that wants to change that perception.

That’s where Fevers comes into play.  Fevers are an Ottawa-based five-piece unit that call refer to themselves as the purveyors of independent, electronic pop but with their own unique take on the genre. Their unique modern sound comes from combining indie rock and electronic music.

Fevers are Colin MacDougall, Jim Hopkins, Martin Charbonneau, Mike Stauffer and Sarah Bradley.

I recently had the chance to speak to Jim and Colin about the band, their musical influences and the electronic scene in the nation’s capital.

How did Fevers come together?

Jim: It’s kind of a long story! Colin and I met through mutual friends a couple of years ago – I was fresh off the boat from England and looking to play in a band. We started jamming together just to have some fun really. Colin was already in a band, so it was a side project of sorts. We started writing some songs together, and nearly had an album’s worth. We recorded everything on my laptop, adding electronic instrumentation here and there. We then met Martin, our sound genius – this was a pretty big turning point, as we started doing regular practices. Colin then left his old band, bringing Mike with him to play drums. The final piece of the puzzle was Sarah, an incredibly talented singer and keyboardist, who joined in early 2011. Since then we’ve been practicing, recording, and playing shows when we can.

Colin: Jim is being a bit modest.  I was completely over-steeped in “indie rock” music, having written & played a similar style of music since the age of 15.  Jim basically swept in and said “hey, why don’t you consider stepping out of your comfort zone”?  I couldn’t.  But thankfully he took my comfort zone, added wicked beats & loops to it, and made it into something a little less comfortable.

If you had to list music that has influenced your sound what artists/bands would appear on that list? 

J: That’s a tough question. Our song writing method varies a lot – sometimes it’s the traditional approach of writing a song on the acoustic guitar and building from there, and other times it’s simply a synth part that we create a song around. So the influences vary on who starts writing the song. Usually I end up mixing the final song, so I’d say my influences for our sound are contemporary electro/indie acts like M83, Passion Pit or LCD Soundsystem. 

C: I actually haven’t changed my music listening all that much in a number of years.  I try to keep up with the M83′s and Passion Pit’s, but often find myself coming back to the Pixies, Breeders, Radiohead, and perhaps The National (if I’m trying to feel ‘contemporary’).  But whether it’s Jim or I who has the first skeleton idea for a song we do, the end result usually does sound more like Neon Indian than Blonde Redhead.  Funny what beats & loops can do.

How would you describe the Ottawa electronic scene?

J: I actually don’t think there are a lot of bands doing what we’re doing here – there’s definitely a healthy indie, punk and metal scene in Ottawa, but as far as an electro-scene I don’t know! Maybe we don’t get out enough!?

C: Agreed.  If there are other bands doing this kind of thing in Ottawa, please write us!  We feel guilty booking shows as the only band with the ridiculous rig including 3 synths & 2 samplers!  (Also agreed that we don’t get out enough…)

Any story behind the single ‘Passion Is Dead [Long Live Fashion]‘? 

J: I’ll leave that one to Colin.

C: Ooooh… thanks for throwing me the hot potato, Jim. Well, I will perhaps simply say that all of the songs that I have recently written usually fall into 2 categories: cynical love songs or songs about a Zombie Apocalypse (pilfered from my ongoing but mainly-failed attempt to write a Zombie rock opera.). PIDLLF falls primarily into category 1 (with a touch of “lamenting the Hipster Apocalypse” thrown in for good measure). 

As a band what music are you listening to now that you can’t get enough of?

 C: I’ll leave that one to Jim.  I’m just getting through listen #6,929 of High Violet…

J: Our music tastes really vary across the band, but right now I’m listening to a lot of Hooray For Earth, Of Monsters and Men, Youth Lagoon, Neon Indian, James Blake… I listen to this awesome Seattle radio station called KEXP – I find a lot of my music that way.

Favourite spots to source out new music in Ottawa?

J: There’s some really cool venues in Ottawa – Raw Sugar Cafe, Mavericks, Babylon, Zaphods, Cafe Dekcuf – they get some good acts playing there. I guess I’d say you just need take a chance every now and you’ll see something unexpected!

 C: Club Saw is also a pretty awesome place. Nothing like listening to interesting music surrounded by interesting art.

So the single that I’ve had on repeat all week long on my shiny red iPod is ‘Passion Is Dead [Long Live Fashion]…check it out here. Love it x 1000.

You can catch Fevers live on Friday, December 2nd with Distractor (MTL) and Dreamphone (Ottawa) at Café Decuf (221 Rideau Street). Licenced 19+ event. Doors swing open at 8PM and it $6 at the door.

The Fevers latest EP, Passion Is Dead,  is available for free at BandCamp.

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Constructing Reality at the Whispering Pines: A Review

A Review by Heather Marie Connors

(from l to r): Paul Rainville, Tracey Ferencz & Kris Joseph

On the surface, not much happens in “Whispering Pines”. The first act shows us the past: a couple, Bruno (played by Paul Rainville) and Renate (Tracey Ferencz) meet Thomas (Kris Joseph) a Canadian scholar doing research in East Germany. Bruno is a troubadour, famous for his songs of revolution, and Renate is a painter. Through Thomas’ eyes, there is something romantic about the socialist ideals this couple attempts to live by, despite the hardships of living in the German Democratic Republic in the late 1980s.  The second act is set in Canada twenty years later, where Renate runs a motel called the Whispering Pines, and we watch as the three characters are reunited and confront their shared past.

There are a couple of things going on beneath the surface that make this text interesting. Time and truth are represented as fluid, and the play asks to what extent truth can be shaped by imagination and art. The play seems almost to be an exercise in social constructionism. The three characters are the social group, and the practice they attempt is socialism. Rather than essentialism, where there is one truth, the truth in this play is socially constructed. That reality is derived from and maintained by social interactions explains why the interactions between the characters are constructed, reconstructed, and constructed again.

Bertol Brecht is mentioned a couple of times in this play and Brechtian techniques are loosely employed in this production; such as direct address from each of the characters, and the use of microphones for narration.

Brecht, a Marxist, was known for his explorations of dialectics. Without getting too far into it, dialectics is all about how the natural world is in a constant state of flux, as is this narrative about the lives of these three friends. That’s why the story moves fluidly through time, and the concept of truth bends and changes depending on who is doing the telling.

The fact that it is difficult to determine which version of events is the “correct” version is, I think, exactly the point. When sorting through the narratives of history, it is equally difficult to determine the ‘real’ truth.

Paul Rainville, with his amazing Wilford Brimley-esque mustache, is great as the troubadour Bruno. And in general there is a warm familiarity between the characters that gives a real sense of their history together. Tracey Ferencz is warm and lovely as Renate. Kris Joseph’s portrayal of Thomas is perhaps a little too stiff; I never quite believed he had feelings for Renate.

The set (Brian Smith) and lighting (Beth Kates) design are simple and effective, the use of projections a great way to highlight landscapes and works of art. In all the design elements were in service of the text, and this play is all about the text.

Because Bruno is a singer, and because he spends the entire first act with a guitar strapped to his gut, I did expect there to be more songs. There’s really only one – granted it’s boot-stompingly good – but it wasn’t enough to buoy up what is otherwise a low energy show.

(from l to r): Paul Rainville & Tracey Ferencz

The bottom line is that “Whispering Pines” is a slow-moving, low stakes drama. The script and characters are interesting, but there is little to no action or plot progression. The ‘before and after’ of the Berlin Wall is a backdrop to the story, but this is not exactly a political thriller. Instead, it is more of a personal story, and in the end all we know is that it is impossible to escape the past and that freedom, as a concept, remains elusive.

The lack of climactic catharsis in this story can be read as Brechtian. As the theory goes, catharsis serves only to make an audience complacent, and instead we are meant to be critical of what we have seen on the stage, to ask questions and to self-reflect. By displaying the characters’ realities as constructions, the audience is reminded that theirs too is a constructed reality, and therefore equally malleable.

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A Review of The Linden House Theatre Company’s: The Circle

Review by Linda Paul

Linden House Theatre Company is performing “The Circle”, a comedy of manners by Somerset Maugham, on October 20, 21-23, and 26-29. The intimate theatre at the Elmwood School is a perfect location for this period piece, which takes place in the 1930s at an English country house.

Elizabeth Champion-Cheney (Sara Duplancic) has arranged a party to reunite her husband Arnold (Corey Reay) with his estranged mother, Lady Kitty (Janet Uren), who ran off with her husband’s best friend when Arnold was only 5 years old. Complications ensue when Arnold’s father (Robin Carter) arrives unexpectedly.

Unhappy in her marriage to the distant and stuffy Arnold, Elizabeth romanticizes Lady Kitty and Lord Porteous’s (Robin Bowditch) great love, for which they sacrificed family, social status and his political career. But reality is far from romantic bliss and the flamboyant Lady Kitty and dissolute Lord Porteous are not what she expects.

This play explores the rules of society in England in the 1930s, especially for women who are dependent on husbands for their status in society. Is acting outside those rules, and choosing passion over practicality worth the consequences?

Corey Reay, Linda Marchand, Sara Duplancic, Alex da Silva, Robin Carter, Robin Bowditch, and especially Janet Uren as Lady Kitty, do a wonderful job portraying the complexities of the characters in this play. The performance is enhanced by a beautiful set and exquisite costumes.

Linden House Theatre Company

Elmwood School Theatre, 261 Buena Vista Road

October 20, 21-23, and 26-29 (7:30pm)

October 23 (matinee performance)

FOR TICKETS CALL: 613-842-4913 

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APPRAISE of the Theatre: . . . EXIT UP.

[Ken Godmere is an Ottawa-based freelance actor/director with 35 years experience and offered his theatre reviews as an unbiased professional appraisal. www.kengodmere.com]

It was quite a year for Ottawa theatre and quite a year for me in the role of a reviewer. And now, as this new theatre season begins, I have decided not to renew my column commitment with Ottawa Tonite.

Even with some indications that “APPRAISE” may not be what the Ottawa theatre scene wants, it is actually my fresh focus on acting and directing that is driving my decision (performing in a television series pilot with Parktown Productions, creating two films for the Digi60 Festival, developing a new webseries with Tim Anderson, performing a new solo show for a national Fringe tour, and more). I am full-plated. And sated.

To wrap a whole year of experience and experiences, I graciously thank Ottawa Tonite Producer and Editor, Cheryl Gain for such faith and support. A big thanks to the theatre companies, casts, and crews for inviting me and trusting me to review their work. And so much appreciation to the readers and the commenters for sharing in the life of my “APPRAISE of the Theatre” column.

Au revoir, merci, et merde.

>> Ken
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APPRAISE of the Theatre: “Spider’s Web” at OLT

[Ken Godmere is an Ottawa-based freelance actor/director with 35 years experience and offers his theatre reviews as an unbiased professional appraisal. www.kengodmere.com]

* Opening Night, Tuesday July 19, 2011 *

Agatha Christie novels are often material for other playwrights. This script for Spider’s Web was penned by the grand dame herself. The setting is a 1955 drawing room in the Hailsham-Brown home in Kent, England. The characters include the wife of a foreign diplomat; her young step-daughter; her husband’s ex-wife’s new husband; three gentlemen house guests; the gardener; and, of course, the butler. The plot contains the customary dead body, a secret passageway, an old desk, and a web of stories and connections. It is a reel of relationships with a mix of mystery and a smidgeon of suspense. Definitely Christie. Quaint, but not spectacular.

The Ottawa Little Theatre’s production design was also quaint, but not spectacular. There was an air of “leftovers-hashed-together-for-a-post-season-production”. The set was fine and functional, but had some odd and awkward pieces in the room, including garden lattice and vines on the walls, mis-fitting leaded glass in the windows, and oriental area rugs thrown down just, wherever. The time spent on costumes seemed to be proportional to the time they would spend on the stage. I cannot comment on what the lighting design was meant to look like — with countless opening night mis-cues, especially in the crucial timing-for-suspense moments.

Director Timothy Ginley valiantly tried to focus on the human relationships between Clarissa Hailsham-Brown, her step-daughter Pippa, and her long-time friend and mentor, Sir Rowland Delahaye. Unfortunately, in his OLT directorial debut, he was not able to develop much in the other layers and levels of this simply complex script. Surprisingly, the weakest parts of this murder mystery were the pivotal and key moments of suspense and climax which fizzled and fell. This kept me guessing – not at the usual suspects, but at whether the play was meant to be a comedy-drama, a dramatic mystery, or a mysterious satire of the genre itself.

There were elements of strength and style in Chantale Plante’s performance as Clarissa. And, though she knew how each logistic bit fit, she hit them all with the same force, not allowing for the subtleties of dynamics, discoveries, or development through the moments, scenes and overall story arc. Robin Carter, as Sir Rowland, brought experienced charm to the stage and to the story, and Sarah Hearn’s Mildred Peake (the earthy gardener) capped the comedy with fun pace and energy, but with less commitment. The various other characters, and the various experience levels of the actors playing them, wandered. And so did I. Although, even with some dramatically impotent scenes, there was (and is) some promise in the talents of two relative newcomers – Steve Liddiard and young Katie Norland.

OLT’s production of Spider’s Web was a lot of work for the cast and crew. And for us. A ski trip without a map, a lift, or enough snow for the slalom.

MY ASSESSMENT: | Brilliant | Clear | Murky | Flawed | – a flat necklace without a clasp.

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Agatha Christie’s Spider’s Web
continues at Ottawa Little Theatre
through July 30, 2011
and is part of the Downtown Rideau SUMMER FLING!

Tickets available at the OLT Box Office Online
by phone at 613-233-8948
or in person at 400 King Edward Avenue
Monday to Friday 11 am to 4 pm
Showdays 11 am to showtime

ottawalittletheatre.com

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[Requests for "APPRAISE of the Theatre" reviews should be directed to info@ottawatonite.com]

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APPRAISE of the Theatre: Disney’s “The Lion King” at the N.A.C.

[Ken Godmere is an Ottawa-based freelance actor/director with 35 years experience and offers his theatre reviews as an unbiased professional appraisal. www.kengodmere.com]

* Opening Night, Saturday July 16, 2011 *

It’s big. It’s bold. And it’s blatant. The first few lines of credits in the programme read: Disney presents The Lion King. Music & Lyrics by Elton John & Tim Rice. Additional Music & Lyrics by Lebo M, Mark Mancina, Jay Rifkin, Julie Taymor, Hans Zimmer. Book by Roger Allers & Irene Mecchi. Adapted from the screenplay by Irene Mecchi & Jonathan Roberts & Linda Woolverton. (Whew!)

Bringing a ‘classic’ Disney movie to the live theatrical stage poses two very big questions. Why? And how? Both magnified exponentially when the original film is animated and the characters are animals. Why would someone want to do a staged musical about animals? Although Cats has had a very long and successful run, my first point was going to be that it should have a strong story as a core. (And Cats didn’t. So go figure that one out. And then let me know.)

The Lion King‘s story is from Disney’s 1994 animated film of the same name, which is thematically from Shakespeare’s Hamlet (and that was probably from some earlier fable or lore) — a Prince’s succession is sidetracked by his father’s death at his uncle’s hand. Okay, with a story to tell, art to create, and money to make, the next question is: how?

Julie Taymor. Her name is all over this show – Director, Costume Design, Mask/Puppet Co-design, and Additional Lyrics. Very well known for risky, novel creativity, Ms.Taymor tapped deeply into the roots of Africa for concepts, style, and story-telling. Strong and stirring. Creative and courageous. And costly. So the questions is, still, how?  Money. Who has more money than Disney? And it is their property. So now I have another question. Were they trying to bring the story to the stage? Or the movie? (Which is, to me, a dangerous mix and misuse of media.) Or are were they fighting to do both?

In the staged production I saw on Saturday night, there were several powerful plusses. The opening pageant of animals was truly moving. And magical, in seeing through the rough and raw mechanics to the humans living inside. Also profoundly apparent were the strong feelings of this cast of fifty creating a village of tribal story-telling with their puppets, shadows, dance, and colourful cultural costumes. Even the highly-technical and complex staging of the wildebeest stampede worked well because it was dramatically countered with the bare, simple, human moments between Simba, his fallen father, and his sinister uncle, Scar.

Where the production struggled and clashed with itself was, ironically, in some of those same areas. Spectacle often trumped spirit. Machine over human. Being. The masks and puppetry of key characters were inconsistent in extremes ranging from the lions’ simple head-top masks allowing them full access to motion and emotion; through the awkwardly distracting and varied versions of the hyenas; all the way to an exact replica of the movie’s cartoony Timon the meerkat, leaving his puppeteer walking awkwardly and separately behind him in floppy feet, green camouflage and face paint. These extremes were also reflected in staging and characterization. Some characters were allowed to grow in the story and in the evolution of the production with new scenes and songs for the scheming Scar and for the maturing Simba and Nala. But that growth and life were completely absent in the characterizations of Timon and Pumbaa which ended up being a strict and rigid parroting of the movie’s original cast soundtrack. Even delicate design choices of organic fabric leaves and plants were slammed with glaring kiddie-kitsch when two giant plastic inflatable plants were pushed onstage, then deflated to sagging as an illustration of the thirteenth Pumbaa fart joke.

With such a sprawling show, there are bound to be bald spots. And when the show is as big and busy as The Lion King, over-mechanized devices and cloying gimmicks and jarring irregularities can mortally wound the story and the heart of the show. This fighting between indigenous African story-telling and American Disney-factory fodder may simply be the timeless friction between the piece of art being painted and the wall of money it’s hanging on. (See Woody Allen’s Bullets Over Broadway.) (I mean it. Literally. See it.)

Thankfully, there were also some individual spirited performances growing and glowing between the machines and the marketing. There were memorable notes in the performances of leading characters like Scar, Mufasa, Simba, and young Nala. But worthy of special mention were Buyi Zama’s playful charm and chants in the role of the mystical Rafiki. And Syndee Winters, who brought it all together, acting, singing and dancing (and fighting) with power, grace, and that “something else” in the way of believing and discovering it all as new. I would also like to spotlight the actor who played young Simba on opening night (no programme indication whether it was Niles Fitch or Zavion J. Hill). For a performer with smaller stature, age and experience on this big stage in a big show with big players to find real moments to be present and to believe (in a way few “Disney Channel actors” can or do), his character earned my sentiments; and his “character” earned my respect.

There is something deep in Disney’s The Lion King as it takes us on a spectacular walk along an earthy path. And something cheap in being served plastic-wrapped mechanically produced process cheese slices at every intersection.

MY ASSESSMENT: | Brilliant | Clear | Murky | Flawed | – a tangled charm bracelet.

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Disney’s The Lion King
continues at the N.A.C.’s Southam Hall
through August 7, 2011.

Tickets available ONLINE
by phone through Ticketmaster 1-888-991-2787 (ARTS)
or at the NAC Box Office

The National Arts Centre

Broadway Across Canada

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[Requests for "APPRAISE of the Theatre" reviews should be directed to info@ottawatonite.com]

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Complex Numbers—An Ottawa Fringe Review

Complex Numbers = No Pants

You know when the writer and producer of a theatre production hands you a condom before the show that you’re not in for a run-of-the-mill Rom-com.

And certainly Nadine Thornhill’s Complex Numbers is anything but run-of-the-mill. It’s smart, funny, sexy, and geeky and has no fear treading deep into the confusing and taboo world of open relationships. Polyamory: check. Intraoffice romance: check. Analingus: check.

But it’s not all about sex, it’s about the people.  And here Thornhill as Writer & Producer and Ken Godmere as Director deliver a piece that’s remarkably human whereas others may have been tempted to indulge in prurient exhibition. We watch mathematician/software developer Fiona (Stephanie Halin) and English academic Alex (J.P Chartier) navigate the dark, deep waters of an open relationship (with a little help from a course on the subject as voiced by Jenn Keay.) There are many rules but sometimes rules are broken. Sometimes with consequences.

The script is quick and clever, rapidly switching between intimate discussions about the fine mechanics of relationships to the minutia of mathematical algorithms with ease (and technical accuracy!) Staging is spare and simple and music provides a surprisingly effective means of setting the scene. Tim Anderson is excellent as Dan with great timing and delivery and Ellen Manchee as a female PHB (that’s Pointy-Headed Boss for non-Dilbert readers) gets some of the best laughs as Maggie.

The rapid-fire delivery could be a little smoother at times, and some of the scene cuts, while clever, could have benefited from a better timing. I saw Complex Numbers on its second of six nights so these quibbles can only improve as the cast and production gets into it’s groove.

Complex Numbers is never heavy but nor is it frothy. It’s a frank (perhaps explicit) exploration of couples and coupling and the irregular intersect between love, desire, and commitment. Like it’s namesake mathematical construct,
Complex Numbers is comprised of multiple parts and dimensions that make it work.

Complex Numbers
60 minutes
Ottawa Fringe—Academic Hall
$12

Sunday June 19, 1:30pm
Monday June 20 9:30pm
Wed June 22 8:00pm
Thursday June 23 11:00pm
Saturday June 25 12pm
Sunday June 26 6:30pm

For information and tickets ottawafringe.com/complex-numbers

David Hicks—Ottawa dweller. Marketing consultant. Dad. Dog owner. Handyman. Gadget guy. Photographer. Coffee Drinker. Scotch sipper. [Not necessarily in that order] Blogs at davidhicks.ca and spends too much time on Twitter.

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